one. * Quinctilian, indeed, shortly after, modifies his sweeping censure of this figure, allowing that it may sometimes be employed for strong affirmation. Pleonasm, however, has something more than this. It is an ornament, and a legitimate one, both to prose and poetry, especially the latter; but it is an ornament whose proper disposal requires more judgment and forbearance than any other: when misplaced, or laid on with too lavish a hand, it becomes puerile, offensive, and ridiculous, § 32. Poetical Pleonasm of the Noun. a. The ablative case, signifying the means by which, is often poetically annexed to some verbs where the sense is complete without it. Such as that very frequent expression of Virgil, "Ore loqui," and "Ore effari," Æn. ii. 524. This is an archaism. Again animo is often redundant after verbs of thought; as, "cogitare in animo," Ter. Adelph. iii. 4. 45. "Reminisci animo, Ov. Pont. i. 8. 31. By a double pleonasm, secum is often added to this; as, "perigere secum animo," Virg. Æn. vi. 105. Considerare secum in animo, Ter. Heaut. ii. 3. 5. Sometimes secum only is redundant; as, reputare secum, Ter. Andr. ii. 6. 11. Sil. xvii. 347. So, too, memoriâ; as, meminisse, memoriâ, Plaut. Capt. ii. 3. 33. Oblivisci memoriâ, Id. Trin. iv. 3. 11. Some of these pleonasms are found in prose. "Recordari cum animo suo," Cic. Cluent. 25. Animo meditari, Nep. xvii. 4. 1. It must be remembered too that such an ablative case is not pleonastic if an adjective or pronoun be joined with it. Thus ore loqui is pleonastic; but not so r roseo Thaumantias ore locuta est," Virg. Æn. ix. 5. or, "Infido ore loqui," Ov. Her. xii. 72. or, tr loqui ore rotundo," Hor. A. P. 323. In oculis videre there is a redundancy; in " hisce oculis vidi," Ter. Adelph. iii. 2. 31., or in "siccis oculis vidit," Hor. Od. i. 3. 18., there is none. b. The ablative domo is sometimes pleonastically inserted after the adverb unde, and ablative cases declaring the country of which one is a native. * We have a parallel expression, Psalm xxxv. v. 21.-Fie on thee, fie on thee, we saw it with our eyes. Unde domo? Virg. Æn. viii. 114. Hor. Ep. i. 7. 53. This is imitated by Suetonius, Vitel. 2. "Vitellius domo c. The dative pronouns mihi, tibi, sibi, nobis, vobis, are often elegantly redundant. Mallem divitias mihi dedisses isti, Catul. xxii. 4. Depresso incipiat jam tum mihi taurus aratro ingemere, Virg. G. i. 45. Nunc mihi Tydiden attollant carmina vatum, Claud. iv. Cons. Honor. 470. Mihi Trebia retrò fluat, Sil. i. 46. Ergo terra tibi limatur et aucta recrescit, Lucr. v. 259. Sic tibi planitiem curve sinus ambit arena, Calpurn. vi. 33. This is part of Corydon's description of an amphitheatre upon his return from the city. Suo sibi gladio hunc jugulo, Ter. Adelph. v. 8. 35. This usage is solely comic. Jacet externo mihi cuspide Canthus, Val. Fl. vii. 422. Quid mihi Celsus agit, Hor. Ep. i. 3. 15. Quid mihi nescio quam proprio cum Tibride Romam semper in ore geris, Claud. Bel. Gæt. 505. Ubi nunc nobis Deus ille magister? Virg. Æn. v. 391. Ubi autem egregius dux ille mihi? Stat. Th. viii. 672. probably adumbrated from the preceding. Pleonasms of this kind are not unknown to prose writers. Cicero makes pretty free use of them, especially in his epistles, and more especially in the narrative parts of them; for example, At tibi repentè venit ad me Caninius manè, Ad. Div. ix. 2. Ecce tibi, too, he often puts for the simple ecce. This is very common in the comic poets, as is eccum tibi and hem tibi. Suo sibi, in a pleonastic view, is not to be met with in good prose writers. The passage "Factus est consul sibi suo tempore, reipublicæ pœne sero, Cic. Læl. 3., has nothing redundant in it; the usage may be traced to the Greeks. Philemon has Tŵs μiv xis; and Oppian, Cyneg. i. 89., τἔνεκά μοι δέμας ὧδε κερασσάμενοι φοιτώντων. d. We may here notice a certain poetical negligence, rather than pleonasm, which obtains more in comic writers than any others; an unnecessary doubling of the demonstrative pronoun. Qui mihi omnes angulos furum implevisti in ædibus misero mihi, Plaut. Aulul. iii. 6. 15. Et hæc pessima se puella vidit joco se lepide vovere divis, Cat. xxxiv. 9. 10. To this may be referred a similar phraseology not quite unknown to prose writers [Cic. Cat. 2. 12.] which may be perceived from the following example: Immo ædepol pallam illam, quam tibi dudum dedi, mihi eam redde, Plaut. Menæch. iv. 3, 4, 5. e. The pronoun ille is sometimes redundant, and with great beauty and spirit, especially in comparisons. Ac velut ille canum morsu de montibus altis actus aper, Virg. En. x. 707. Ac velut ille, priusquam tela inimica sequantur, occiso pastore lupus, Virg. Æn. xi. 809. § 33. There is no pleonasm of the verb worth noticing, except of the infinitive mood. Nor need we stop to quote instances of this redundancy in the comic poets, such as "Nunc domum properare propero," Plaut. Aulul. ii. 2. 4., since such expressions are quite beside imitation. However, it must be noticed, that verbs of giving take, with a degree of elegance, such redundant infinitives as ferre or habere after them, especially in Virgil. Argenti magnum dat ferre talentum, Virg. Æn. v. 248. (Dona) ille suo moriens dat habere nepoti, Id. Æn. ix. 362, This is a Græcism, δίδωσιν ἔχειν. 34. In prepositions, the only pleonasm worth noticing is that of cum, which is admitted in poetry, without any grammatical necessity. This is an archaism, and a Græcism; as in Xenophon, σὺν τῷ σῷ ἀγαθῷ τὰς τιμωρίας ποιῇ. And in Thucydides, our main imorgive, to incite with praise. Molibus incurrit validis cum viribus amnis, Lucr. i. 287. At neque, uti docui, solido cum corpore mundi natura est, Id. v. 365. At levisomna canum fido cum pectore corda, Id. v. 862. Ille (fluvius) suo cum gurgite flavo accepit venientem, Virg. En. ix. 816. Concussit terque quaterque cæsariem, cum quâ terram, mare, sidera movit, Ov. Met. i. 179. Bona cum bonâ nubit alite virgo, Catul. lviii. 19. On the other hand, Malâ alite, Hor. Epod. x. 1. secundâ alite, Id. Epod. xvi. 24. This pleonasm is only to be found in prose writers of low authority as in Pliny, " vehicula cum culeis onusta," H. Nat. vii. 20. and particularly in the Rei Rusticæ Scriptores. § 35. The repetition of the same or similar particles is found both in prose and poetry. Cicero has deinde postea, Pro Mil. 24. Etsi quamvis, Att. 16. 7. At verò, Pro Marc. 2, and elsewhere, prorsus valdè, Ad. Div. vi. 20., and others of the same kind. So, too, in the comic poets, we perpetually meet with such expressions as ergo igitur, dehinc protinus, ædepol profecto, &c. We shall give, however, a few examples that are found in good authorities only. Etiam quoque, Lucr. v. 518. 714. Haud mora continuo, Virg. Æn. iii. 548. Sed quid ego hæc autem nequicquam ingrata revolvo, Id. Æn. ii. 101. Iterum iterumque, Virg. Æn. viii. 527. Cicero says, iterum et sæpius. Nimium nimiumque, Tibull. iii. 6. 20. Ov. Her. i. 41. Nisi si, for nisi, simply, is often used, especially by Ovid, Her. iv. 111. xvii. 151. R. A. 521. Met. x. 200., &c. § 36. Compound verbs are often joined with an adverb, having the same signification as the particle, with which they are compounded; which is, in fact, a pleonastic doubling of the particle. Thus we find in the same sentence, Per-nimium. "Perparce nimium," Ter. Andr. ii. 6. 22. Præ prius or antè. "Præsentire ante," Lucr. v. 1340. "Præcavere prius,” Plaut. Truc. iv. 5. 8. Re-retrò. Retrò sublapsa referri, Virg. Æn. ii. 169.—Retrò vestigia Turnus refert, Id. Æn. ix. 797. Re-rursus. Rursus refici, Lucr. i. 559. Rursus referri, Id. v. 87. vi. 67. Rursus revocari, Id. ii. 955. Claud. Ruf. i. 357. Sub-aliquantum, or aliquantulum. Subrufus aliquantum, Plaut. Cap. iii. 4. 116. Subtristis aliquantulum, Ter. Andr. ii. 6. 16. We find instances of this redundancy in prose writers, especially of rursus, in Cæsar; Rursus reducere, Cæs. B. G. vi. 1. Rursus renovare, Id. B. C. iii. 92. Rursus resacrare, C. Nep. vii. 6. 55. Rursus recidere, Suet. Cæs. 17. But these examples are not to be imitated, and even in poetry it is scarcely allowable to introduce such phrases, except upon direct authority. § 37. Sometimes a double negative has in Latin, as in Greek, the power of a stronger negation. We do not mean such phrases as, non—neque—neque ; nemo—neque—neque ; nullus—neq., &c., for they are to be found in the best prose writers. Here, however, are some examples that could not be borne, except in poetry. Nulla nec exustas habitant animalia partes (for, neque ulla), Tibul. iv. 1. 164. Ne legat id nemo quàm meus antè (ne quis), Id. iv. 7. 8. Aut hic errat, ait, nullâ sine lege (sine ullâ), Lucan. i. 642. Such expressions, therefore, as ne nemo, for ne quis ; nullus neque, for neque ullus; ne non, for ut non; sine nullo, for sine ullo; could not justly be denied to a practitioner of Latin poetry. |